The Queensland Maroons are entering tonight’s first State of Origin meeting with the New South Wales Blues as favourites with all major betting agencies.
However, there’s not a huge gap in either team’s fortunes. The Maroons are running at about $1.70 to win with most agencies, while the Blues aren’t far away at $2.20.
Follow live:
2015 State of Origin live scores – Game 1
For those who do feel like taking a punt on the Blues, Ladbrokes.com.au has one of the more lengthy markets, winding their odds out to $3.20 to win the first game, with a maximum bet of $20.
All major agencies have the line set at 2 points in the favour of the Maroons.
A smallish win to the Maroons is clearly the most favoured option with margin punters, with $2.70 odds available on a Maroons win between 1-12 and $2.90 on the Blues by the same margin on most sights.
Queensland’s Darius Boyd is the nominated frontrunner to score the first try of the game, running at $9 odd on most major betting sites.
From there on it gets a bit murkier, but New South Wales’ Daniel Tupou is ranked highly by most, ranging from $9 for the first try with Centrebet to $12 with Bet365.
Ladbrokes’ market will play out $3.75 if Boyd scores a try and the Maroons win, and $5 if Tupou scores a try and the Blues win. They have a few other combinations available as well.
Ladbrokes’ have Jonathan Thurston installed as the favourite to win man of the match, at $6, with Cameron Smith ($8) and Robbie Farah ($9) both also in single digits.
Dylan Napa and Jacob Lillyman are the furthest out for the honour, both available at odds of $101 for those who feel like taking a mighty unlikely punt.
It’s even possible to put cash on Lillyman to score the first try if you wish at $90 (on Bet365), considered a significantly more unlikely event than the possibility of there being no tries at all ($26).
As a curiosity, a lot of the bookies seem to think there’s a reasonable chance that the first team to score will lose – as an example, Bet365 offering fairly short odds for the team that scores first to lose at $2.15 ($1.65 to win).
Full disclosure: Bet365 and UniBet are both current advertisers with The Roar, while Ladbrokes were former advertisers.
Odds correct as of 2:30pm AEST 27/5/2015
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Spudd hitting Kenty right between the eyes!
Despite a poor season by his own high standards, Latrell Mitchell is still a chance to force his way into the NSW team for…
Michael Maguire is saying all the right things about how he wants to guide NSW back to State of Origin supremacy but the inescapable…
Wayde Egan's rise to star hooker status at the Warriors should earn him a place in conversation to play at No.9 for NSW in…
Hilton Cartwright and Joel Paris have powered Western Australia to a five-wicket win over NSW in the one-day cup final, securing a historic third…
One poor season from the Roosters' number one is not reflective of a trend, but an anomaly, and James Tedesco should not have his position questioned.
